i have noticed that a number of new members have little info in their sign in section. is it because the software is still a unfriendly as it was when i became a member? could someone try to pretend to be new and sign up.? even biglou's suggestion that more info should be provided has not produced results often enough to matter.

i remember not being able to enter my city or birthday or other basic stuff when i signed on. it took a while to get even the little there is to be accepted.

there are a number of members from different countries whose info contains no location, even just a country name. is something available to identify them so we in the USA don't sound so silly suggesting something not available in europe, australia, etc? sometimes it is only the UK spellings that identify folks from elsewhere.

yes, i know that the forum is connected to a US entity and we just expect members to be from the states but we could be a little more accurate if we know where a poster is located before we tell them to buy a product that is thousands of miles away from their home.

It is much easier to rant, complain, sit back and observe with nothing to say or just read and absorb when you are behind a mask or a shadowed in dummy of an icon. At the same time there is nothing to attack when you are hidden. In so many social media sites the presence of a profile often ends up getting one hurt. Here however, I believe others respond much better when there is a face, a profile, and a few examples of work on display. It is kind of like an entrance fee.

I'm trying to figure out the gallery thing. I find it strange from my profile i couldn't upload an image. Are there rules about what can go into a gallery? Like is it for only work or can i post images to weird stuff growing in my reclaim bucket? And can i delete images once they are in a gallery if i decide i don't want them online anymore? I don't upload anything cause i don't have enough information.

Given warnings about identity theft, not posting personal identifying info online, etc., there may be a general wariness of putting information out on a forum site -- especially for newcomers who aren't sure how the site works, its security integrity, other members, and so on. And, because the site allows users to create their own user names, most will take that option. The only option, which would create much work for the admin staff, is to verify info submitted and not allow fictitious user names, nicknames, or monikers. ACERs gets what they want . . . a valid email address; that is their price for playing at CAD.

Your point is heard, but unfortunately the forum software is the forum software. Changing it will/would be a huge investment for the CAD division of ACerS to make..... both in money... but particularly in TIME.

Something that is not often considered when suggesting changes to forums like this is the transfering of the OLD DATA contained in a forum like this to a new piece of software. That old information has value. It would be a SHAME to lose all of it. It is not as simple as you might think to copy stuff like this over. I am a mod at another forum, and due to software glitches and vulnerabilities, they decided to change the forum software. It took about a year and a lot of money and a lot of person-hours to get it done without losing a huge reference resource. We still lost a lot of stuff, and almost a year later we are still finding links that need to be restored.

Just to dispel what might be a myth out there......... the American Ceramic Society is not some sort of "deep pockets" organization akin to Exon-Mobil and other such companies simply rolling in the dough. Yes, money is made, and there is a cashflow, but overall it likely is far smaller economic engine than many people probably think it is. The art side of ACerS is constrained by the fact that is is a part of the arts... not the most lucrative side of the economy in the USA. And the other side of ACerS is centered on the industrial aspects... and remember that in recent times a huge portion of industruial ceramics manufacturing has moved offshore to China and Southeast Asia.

Also remember that ACerS, the parent company of CAD, CM, PMI, and Potters Council is a non-profit.

Relative to the Potters Council portion of ACerS........ the whole main office operation for us is run with only 1 1/2 full time people. That is for dealing with everything..... conferences, publications, member supoport and benefits, correspondence, and so on. Not exactly like a Google work environment . The volunteer Board and Committee members help to pick up the slack (or in some cases the office probably thinks we make them MORE work..... not less ).

So... the organization does the best with what it has available. Changes to stuff like this tend to be incremental, not revolutionary.

First, I appreciate that so many care about this forum and its operation. We do, in fact, try to make it as easy as possible to use, but John is correct that there are certain (I'll call them restrictions) in place when using a third-party piece of software for this forum. There are many setting which are, as a default, set according to best Internet and privacy practices by the software when it is installed "out of the box." That said, we have, do, and will, adjust these as necessary (the recent difficulty with folks not being allowed to comment in the gallery without moderation is a prime example). This forum software, by necessity, needs to be managed by exception to a large extent. In order to provide it for free, we really have to be careful about the resources we put into changing it. One of the main reasons for this is that one never really knows what effect a single (seemingly) small change can have in terms of unforeseen consequences.

Oldlady, one thing that is in place that may be causing a new member to be unable to immediately populate a profile is that we require validation by clicking a link in a confirmation email. This is one of the most effective tools we have at keeping the robot spammers away from the forum. If you can PM me with what you think is specifically difficult to accomplish in setting up a profile, we can see if there are settings that govern this that we can adjust or improve. I only ask because I have not heard this previously, and it's possible that others share your frustration but have not spoken up. I'd appreciate more detail, as I have not personally experienced the difficulty you mention.

In the meantime, I'll look into what verbiage might be adjusted so that the directions are as clear as possible.

I would like to ditto John and Sherman's comments as they summed up the situation quite nicely. I would also like to reiterate John's comment about the Potters Council. Frankly, (and this is not meant to give myself or others kudos!) the amount of work that gets done to further the work and the mission of The Potters Council is absolutely amazing given the numbers of ACerS staff charged and the volunteer Advisory Board personnel. So, thank you all for your Potters Council membership and support of what we do.

Apart from the "gallery" problem we had since the hacker attack, I never had problems with the software or in filling in my specifications. I value oldlady a great deal and so I'am sure she doesn't insist unmotivated about software problems. But I also have to second bciskepottery. For example if I find a member who interests me as a fellow potter, I go have a look at his information. Most of the time I can't find them. I then p.m. the person and always learned, that they "waited" with filling in informations about their person and whereabouts to first see if they are feeling comfortable with the other forum members. Often, when they stay, they forget to fill in specifications and pictures in the gallery. But then there are also those who, suddenly, vanish into thin air.

Here in Switzerland we don't celebrate Thanksgiving. But I want to take the opportunity to thank admin, mods and my fellow members and potters for the lively and always interesting discussions about our passion: clay!

Steven: I had to giggle seeing your status... Newbie? Welcome to the club....

Signed on to CAD over 3 years ago with no intention of interaction or posting because the site seemed very American orientated......(wait a minute, wait a minute!)....meaning equipment, materials, measurements, events, education, etc were/are specific to the US and I live in Australia with different equipment, materials, measurements, events and education etc... so I kept the profile sparse.

Have only begun recently to engage the forum. The profile is still sparse basically because I'm lazy....... and the link to my website will give interested people any information they want.

Do agree though a location identifier would be a great thing...knowing that potters from Switzerland, UK, Spain, Canada, France, Australia, Thailand and any other place that sometimes show up helps the understanding that CAD is and can be an international forum and not just an American one......I find the idea of an international wealth of ceramics knowledge very exciting!! So for me, the location identifier is an essential addition.........and maybe the US converting to metric too..?

But I can see the rationale behind the geographical location. Metric USA I don't even mind that as I am old enough to have experienced imperial and metric systems, gets pretty amusing when one reads, 0.2 of 2 and 3/4lbs and the like! Makes converting glaze formulas to percentages interesting but then the scientist comes out and says lets use grams and kilogrammes old Brit spelling there.

Its fairly easy to change your "Newbie" "Advanced Member" etc to a personal descriptor and your location fills in as well by using your account settings. The newbie stuff only has to do with the software not the person so it doesn't mean much.

I admit that I am often disappointed to go to the Member area and find nothing about a person who may have made a great comment or given good advice.

How dangerous/invasive can it be to give a nibble of basics ... not private info, but a glimpse into where you are from and your pottery interests is fun to read.

Chris Campbell

Contemporary Fine Colored Porcelain
www.ccpottery.com

TRY ... FAIL ... LEARN ... REPEAT

" ... If a sufficient number of people are different, no one has to be normal"
Fredrick Bachman

thank you all for realizing i am not really trying to change things unrealistically. my thought is that if there was something, somewhere to welcome new members and explain what cad is about, then suggesting how to use what is already there in a clear and simple way. something similar to the photograph posting instructions that are at the heading of "in the studio".

the problems i have are because i am old, think computers are mostly difficult and useful only for the highly trained among us and a waste of time. i know i am a luddite. not always, i was paid to be at the forefront of communications for many years. i just see people trying to explain how to do something in the same way the public sees a skilled potter grow a lump of clay into a beautiful vase in 2 minutes or less. it is hard to follow those flying fingers that touch some button i cannot see and hear "see, it's simple, try it."

sometime soon i will try to edit my profile and learn how to post photos and maybe even figure out how to use the gallery. that is a COMPLETE MYSTERY to me.

I was reading an article the other day about the maturing of the Internet ... how the 'Wild West' days of its anonymous posting infancy are being left behind for moderated, identified users sites. Even previously open comment sections are now asking people to sign in through their Facebook account to make them think twice about those ugly words, make one realize they can be identified ... No more bashing and hiding.
No doubt the trolls will find another way to hunt, but more and more institutions are turning to moderators and some form of censoring in order to protect their users and their own image.

Chris Campbell

Contemporary Fine Colored Porcelain
www.ccpottery.com

TRY ... FAIL ... LEARN ... REPEAT

" ... If a sufficient number of people are different, no one has to be normal"
Fredrick Bachman

I belong to one martial arts forum... it is moderated....... and it requires the useage of real names. Involved sign up process. It is pretty picky about the typically abused account email addresses that can be set up without much verification of actual identity also.